Christian Winthrop, spokesman for former Yonkers Mayor John Spencer’s U.S. Senate campaign, has issued a response to comments made by KTÂ McFarland’s adviser, Ed Rollins on NY1 last night:

“Ed Rollins is a desperate consultant working for a desperate candidate. Ms. McFarland is not getting any traction, she won’t get 25% at the convention and John Spencer just out raised her by a 5-1 ratio during the first quarter. I guess Rollins is trying to justify his large fees. He hasn’t delivered on anything else.”

In Marc Humbert’sÂ AP story, McFarland seeks to distance herself from Rollins’ remarks, letting her attack dog fling the mud for which she insists she has such distaste while she keeps her own hands clean.

“I have made it clear from the start that I don’t like mudslinging and attack politics. In fact, it is one of the reasons I decided to run,” she said in a statement sent to the AP. “Mr. Spencer’s personal life is of zero interest to me and I don’t expect it to come up again. Questions about his mayoralty are relevant, but how he conducts his personal life is his own business.”

Since we’re on the topic, I was told this morning by a highly-placed GOP source that Republican leaders are expecting a primary between McFarland and Spencer.

Winthrop told me Spencer plans to spend the next few weeks leading up to the state GOP convention traveling the state to meet with county chairmen in an effort to keep McFarland under 25 percent of the weighted state commitee vote – and off the ballot.

Spencer has about 40 percent of that vote, Winthrop said. McFarlandÂ adviser Bill O’Reilly said yesterday she’s hit the 16 percent mark – but that’s incuding Erie County, which isn’t a lock now that there’s a new GOP chairman in town.

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